David Hayes and Zac Purton couldn’t have been happier with Ka Ying Rising’s soft trial win at Sha Tin on Thursday as the star sprinter prepares for the Group One Centenary Sprint Cup (1,200m) on January 19.

In his first serious hit-out since his Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) success last month, Ka Ying Rising cruised to the front and was under a firm hold from Purton in the straight when comfortably accounting for a star-studded field over 1,200m on the dirt.

Top miler Voyage Bubble proved he was on track to defend his Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) crown on January 19, closing late to finish three-quarters of a length behind Ka Ying Rising in second when ridden out late by Matthew Poon Ming-fai.

They cleared out by more than seven lengths from the rest of the field, which included Hong Kong Sprint runner-up Helios Express (fifth) and Stewards’ Cup contender Galaxy Patch (seventh), who were both given quiet trials.

“With the time between runs he always gets a little bit fresh and when he’s fresh, that’s when he gets a bit agitated,” Purton said of Ka Ying Rising.

“So the trial’s always nice to knock the edge off him a bit and on race day, he’s settled his nerves.”

Hayes was pleased with his stable star’s trial as he prepares to chase a ninth consecutive victory on Sunday week.

“I thought it was pretty good,” Hayes said.

“That was a strong trial – the two best sprinters and the two best milers, so I couldn’t have asked for any more.

“He’ll just do maintenance work between now and the Centenary Sprint Cup – I don’t need to see how fast he is. We’re looking forward to it.”

After Hayes announced Ka Ying Rising would skip the Classic Mile (1,600m) on January 31, the brilliant son of Shamexpress will now chase the HK$5 million bonus on offer for the city’s Speed Series.

The Centenary Sprint Cup is the first leg of the Speed Series, followed by the Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) in February and Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200m) in April.

“I know he’s won eight in a row, but I think there’s still improvement in him,” Hayes said in an ominous warning to rivals.

“He keeps improving. He’s put a bit of weight on in between races and he’s getting stronger, which you like to see from a narrowly-framed horse like he is.

“I understand there’s a sprinter’s bonus as well. I forgot about that when I made the decision about the mile, but that makes me happier.”

Size was happy with Helios Express and Stewards’ Cup runner Beauty Eternal, who ran a close third under Purton in a separate dirt trial on Thursday morning.

“[Helios Express] trialled the way he normally does, he just sort of goes through the motions and he’s probably not a good trialler on the dirt track, but he just does his work and that’s all we really expect from him,” Size said.

“[Beauty Eternal] looked like he did his work properly, he seems in pretty good order, he’s pretty relaxed and I think he seems to be going on with his preparation quite normally.”

Group One winners Victor The Winner and Invincible Sage will also warm up for the Centenary Sprint Cup when they trial at Happy Valley on Friday.